Spiral stitching machine



May 1, 1951 w. T. GENSHEIMER SPIRAL STITCHING MACHINE;

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filbd Oct. 2, 1947 INVENTOR 'h'lM/IMTIWISHE/MEI? ATTORNEY May 1, 1951 W.'T. GENSHEIMER SPIRAL STITCHING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2, 1947 INVENTOR WILL/0M 7: ems/15mm ATTORNEY May-.1, 1951 w. T. GENSHEIMER SPIRAL STITCHING MACHINE 5 Shee ts-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 2, 1947 INVENTOR 'MLL/RMZGENS/IE/MEP ATTORNEY Patented May 1, 1951 UNITED S TATES PATENT OFFICE SPIRAL s'rircmNG MACHINE William T. 'Gensheimer,-New York; N. Y.- Application octoberz, 1947, SerialzNo. 777,408

, 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a sewing machine attachment for making a new and novel bras-ll siere element and to the brassiere element made in accordance therewith.

In the making of brassieres of the breast forming type it is desirable to provide a breast cup which will at the same time be oft in texture and yet stifi enough to be self-sustaining so as to hold the tissue in the form desired. This result can be achieved by forming the breast pocket of a plurality of layers of a textile, intimately sewn together with or without a filling material between them.

It is the object of this invention to provide .a new and practical brassi'ere element from which garments of this .kind can be manufactured .-in quantity production and .at low cost. .In accordance with one phase of this invention, therefore, the breast pocket material is assembled and given a circular shape and the parts thoroughly sewn together by spiral stitching, and thereafter a sector is cut from the circular element so formed to permit it to be given its cone shaped form.

This invention accordingly comprises a machine and an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties and the relation of elements which will be exemplified insthe machine and article of manufacture hereinafter described and the scope of the application vof which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation partly in section of the bed of a sewing machine, disclosing the machine attachment and part of this invention which is designed to form the brassiere element above referred to. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. l of the same machine. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail from the same position as Fig. 1, but showing certain of the parts in cross section.- Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a portion of the construction shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is the 'bras siere element above referred to. 7

Referring first to Fig. 6, the brassie're element is shown to comprise a plurality of layers of suitable material In having a row of machine stitching l'l starting at the center-and moving spirally outward to the eriphery. Such an element may be used to .form a brassiere by cutting outs sector shown at the line l'2l2 and sewing .tl'ie ends together. Such an element may be constructed with great rapidity and sewn into the brassi'ere with ease.

The machine of the invention referred to in Fig. 1 comprises a commercial sewing machine having a bed l5, aneedle l6 and a foot VI]. The operating .inechanismi's omitted from the drawing-except for the oscillating .shaft 18 for drivmg the feed mechanism in the usual man-her. Any conventional operating mechanism may be used, the construction being such that the oper ating mechanism raises and lowers the needle 16, a shaft .l'8 oscillates to drive the feed mechanism I9 .in timed relation thereto. Longitudinally from the bed l5 of the machine there is cut a $101; 20 having a shoulder :21 to sup ort a slide 22, carrying a vertica pin 23. The direction and position of the slot and the position of the pin are such that the line through the path of movement of the pin'123 intersects the needle It as the slide 22 is 511 back and forth in the slot 20. For reasons which will be clear, the length of the slot is such that the .pin "23 can come very close to the needle 16 or can .be moved to a dis tance therefrom by the sliding of the slide.

A shaft 25 is mounted in supports '26 parallel tothe shaft 18 and to the slot 20,, and ahead 21 slides upon this shaft 25. Vertically slidable j-in guides 28 upon the head is a block 29 which is spring pressed downward bya spring 30. This block 29 has a downward extending arm "31 carrying a stud shaft 32 on which is jo'urnalled a wormwhee'l 33 integral with a bevel gear 34. This shaft 32 maybe held in place by a screw 35. This wormwheel 433 mesheswith a rack 36' extending parallel to the shaft 25., so 'that on rotation of the wormwheelf33, the block 29 and the head '21 will be moved along the shaft 525. An arm 31 is pivoted at '38 to the head 21 ,andis also connected to the block '29, so that'b'y depressing the arm 31 the wormwheel 33 may be moved out of'mesh with the racket against the pressure of the spring '30 .thereby permitting the head '21 to slide along'th shaft '25. but whenever.

3 the lever 31 is released the wormwheel 33 reengages the rack.

In the particular embodiment shown in the drawings the pivot 38 comprises a screw passing through a lever 31 and screwed into block 21, and the pivotal connection comprises a pin 39a carried by the block 29 in the path of the lever 31 in position such that when the lever is moved the block 29 will be raised.

Journalled vertically in the head 21 is a shaft 40 and at the lower end of this shaft there is splined a bevel gear 4| in position to mesh with the bevel gear 34, so that as the shaft 40 is driven the wormwheel 33 is also driven. The gear 4| is directly carried by a sleeve 42 attached to the block 29 by a set screw.43, so that as the wormwheel 33 is raised and lowered by the lever 31 the gears will stay in mesh, the gear 4| sliding upon,

its drive shaft. Y

Mounted upon the feed-mechanism-driving shaft I8 is a block 44 fastened uponthe shaft by screws 45 and this block 44 carries a pin 46 by which it is pivoted to a link 41. The other end of the link 41 (see Fig. 3) is pivoted at 48 to a block 49 transversely slidable in a guide 56 upon a support upon the underside of the bed. This block 49 carries a downwardly extending pin 52. A shaft 53 is vertically journalled in head 21 in alignment with shaft 46. This shaft 53 is journalled also to slide 22 at its top at 54 and is ratchet connected to shaft 40 by a ratchet 55. Upon shaft 53 is a lever 56 having a longitudinal slot 51 embracing the pin 52 so that the front and back movement of the pin 52 caused by the oscillation of the shaft l8 will cause the oscillation of the lever 56 about the shaft 53. By reason of the fact that the pin 52 cannot move in the direction of the extension of the shaft 25 the leverage between pin 52 and shaft 53 is constantly changed as the head slides on the shaft 25 and this fact is utilized, as will be described, to keep the distance between the successive turns of the spiral ll equal.

A bracket 60 carries the block 6! which holds in place the slotted rod 62 having at one end the opening 63 which can be insertedover the top of the pin 23 to hold the element in place. By reason of the slot in the rod 62 this rod 62 can slide as the slide 22 slides. The operation of the device is as follows. The shaft 18 operates with each stitch to move pin 52 a fixed amount. This movement oscillates lever 56 through an angle inversely proportional to the distance between the axis of shaft 53 and pin 52 (ignoring the difference between the tangent of the angle and the angle). This distance is converted into a proportional movement of wormwheel 33 and hence of slide 22 and pin 23, because of ratchet 55. Now the pin 23 serves as a center about which the brassiere element must revolve,'but the center moves constantly away from the needle at a rate inversely proportional to its distance. This exactly compensates for the fact that the length of each revolution of the spiral increases in proportion to its distance and hence the number of stitches per revolution likewise increases.

A more or less circular swatch of material comprising for example two or three superimposed layers of a suitable cloth has its center inserted over the pin 23 and its periphery inserted beneath the foot l1.

The machine can be made to start the sewing either at the center of the spiral or at the outside edge. The machine shown here is designed to start at the center. To this end, therefore, the connections are made such that the movement of the machine will cause the block 21 to move away from the needle. The operator will, therefore, depress the lever 31 and move the head 21 to the position shown in Fig. 1. After the swatch has been impaled upon the pin 23, guide 62 is placed over the pin 23 to hold the swatch in place whereupon the machine will start operation.

As the spiral is sewn it will be clear that the further away it gets from the center the more stitches will be required for each revolution if the distance between successive turns is to be kept constant. This is accomplished in accordance with the present machine since the decrease in leverage of the pin 52 automatically decreases the motion of the slide 22 in exact proportions to the distance between pin 23 and the needle.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. A device for spiral sewing adapted for use with a sewing machine having a frame, a needle and an automatic feed, said device comprising a work guide slidable in a slot on said frame toward and from said needle, a pair of relatively movable elements, one of which is mounted on said frame and the other connected to said work guide, a drive member connected to effect relative motion between said elements, said elements being constructed and arranged to move said work guide in said slot by their relative motion, a lever and ratchet connected to said drive member, a block slidable in fixed guides upon said frame, for motion transverse to said lever, carrying a pin for engaging said lever, and means operated by said feed for reciprocating said pin.

2. A device for spiral sewing adapted for use with a sewing machine which has a frame, a base, a needle and an automatic feed, comprising in combination a work guide mounted to slide laterally in said bed toward and away from said needle, a rack mounted on said frame parallel to said slot, a worm wheel journalled on said work guide engageable with said worm, a driving means for said worm wheel including a lever pivoted on said work guide and extending parallel to said slot, means mounted on said machine and connected to said automatic feed to be oscillated thereby and carrying a member slidably connected with said lever, whereby the operation of the feed will operate the worm wheel at a rate corresponding to the position of the work guide.

3. A device for spiral sewing adapted for use witha sewing machine which has a bed, a needle, an automatic feed mechanism, comprising in combination a work guide adapted to be mounted on said head for lateral movement toward and from the needle, a pin carried by said work guide, a ratchet and gear train mounted on said work guide. in position to cooperate with a worm on REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Weiss Mar. 12, 1918 Denemark July 17, 1923 English July 24, 1923 Perras Oct. 16, 1923 Grieb May 2, 1933 Childs Apr. 4, 1939 Kessler et al Oct, 3, 1944 Palmer Nov. 19, 1946 Plehn Nov. 19, 1946 

